D.town 33yo d.1979 (56.3%, Cadenhead Cask Ends, 3rd Fill Bourbon Cask, 1b): possibly a re-labelled Chairman's Stock, though I cannot identify it more precisely. Nose: hazelnuts, dusty fruits, lichen, glazed chestnuts, forest floor. Then, it turns to flowers, with dried roses, dried tulips, pot-pourri, dried gorse leaves. Some desiccated dried dates, almost wooden, faded marmalade on stale toast. It may read horrible, but it is full of diaphanous charm. Much later, it is daisies, canola oil and rapeseed that suitably complement the dried flowers, then ground black pepper and ground coriander. Mouth: the palate has much more bite than the nose suggested, with ginger, cinnamon sticks, maybe peppermint. It is lively, that is for sure! A schitckle of menthol -- oh! Definitely peppermint, now. There is a fleeting impression of strawberry bubble gum, at some stage, fighting the cinnamon and the ginger. It feels like a whisky from another era, with wood varnish and encaustic in an old-school way. Chocolate makes a delayed entrance (milk chocolate), sprinkled with chilli powder. Finish: warm and nutty, it has Brazil-nut butter, cocoa butter, chestnut shells, and a spoonful of melted dark chocolate. It stops short of unveiling mocha (just), and seems devoid of the peppermint that was so obvious on the palate. The cinnamon and ginger are still there, even if one needs to look hard for them. Indeed, the finish is a nutty affair and a half, augmented by a drop of strong liqueur, not unlike Edel Tropfen. 8/10
Hazelburn 9yo 2008/2018 (59.9%, OB Duty Paid Sample, Refill Bourbon Hogshead, Warehouse 15, Rotation #4): nose: white wine, plum eau-de-vie, Alka-Seltzer tablets... This is dry, mineral and rather austere, very much unlike the mental image most people would paint of Hazelburn, I would wager. Gin-based toddy, hot tea. The back of the nose feels rougher, with industrial stripping fluid and... nappy glue!?!? Unripe-mandarin peels too, what a relief! Much later on, a timid, burnt-wood smoke tickles the nostrils, oddly enough (Hazelburn is completely unpeated). The plum eau-de-vie attempts a takeover, but fails. With water, it becomes much jammier, with peach jelly, apricot compote and flayed tangerine segments, cloaked in what reminds me of faint stove smoke. Hazelburn may not be smoked, yet I swear it is there. Or is it chilli relish? Smoked-chilli relish? Mouth: surprisingly soft and juicy, it has juice from the nose's mandarins, augmented with a drop of lemon juice, minty gel (think: Mentos filling) and tinned-pineapple chunks. The alcohol takes off and, if it does not corrode the gums too harshly, it is clear we are far above 40%. With the second sip comes a certain bitterness, harking back to the Alka-Seltzer tablets. Repeated sipping puts the emphasis on the citrus, though the bitterness never completely goes away -- let us call it citrus peel. Water underlines the tangerine segments alright, not much else. Finish: citrus juice here too, mandarin, calamansi, a few drops of sweet grapefruit. Crystallised tangerine segments grow sweeter and harder, to a point where the finish is overwhelming with citrus-y boiled sweets. After a while, blackcurrant drops join the dance, which makes for a lovely fruity-sweet-come-bitter experience. With water, it is now pure citrus debauchery, with mandarin drops, crystallised clementines, candied tangerines and sweet grapefruit marmalade. No trace of the bitterness is left. Good drop, but the (neat) nose is a bit of a let-down that prevents it from scoring higher. 7/10 (Thanks for the dram, JS)
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